Week 44 - Farewell Week

On Monday, the four of us traveled from Mount Cook to Tekapo. After a short walk to the center with a lovely coffee break, we were able to check into the campsite.

This time we had booked the premium Holiday Park. It is located right by the lake and just a few minutes' walk from the center. It was a really nice place, and the facilities were spotless. Since we hadn't stayed at a Holiday Park before during our entire time here, this was indeed a special change for the finale.

After a cozy breakfast the next morning, we had another short hike on the agenda. We walked the Mount John Track to an observatory on top of the mountain. From there, one can not only observe the stars at night, but also enjoy a fantastic view over Lake Tekapo and the Mackenzie Basin during the day.

An obligatory visit to the Church of the Good Shepherd was, of course, also on the list. However, upon arrival, it was inaccessible due to a wedding. The positive effect was that it was possible to take pictures without the hundreds of tourists usually bustling around the church. The bride and the wedding party served as additional photo subjects.

We enjoyed the evening in nice weather and took advantage of the Holiday Park's facilities to grill with a direct view of the lake.

But that wasn't all. A special natural spectacle also took place that evening. A lunar eclipse during full moon, which is unique this year and could only be observed in the Pacific region. This spectacle is also called a blood moon, as the complete lunar eclipse allows only the red spectrum of light to hit the moon, making it glow reddish.

On Wednesday, it was time for us to head to Christchurch. While Oli explored the museums in the city center, we went with Birgit to Sumner and took a leisurely walk along the beach.

Afterwards, we all met again at the Riverside Market, where we had dinner. Everyone found something to eat at the large food court.

On our last day with Birgit and Oli, we visited a few more sights in Christchurch and simply had a really nice day together.

On Friday, it was time for the first farewell. We accompanied them to return their camper van before they took the shuttle to the airport.

As the headline might suggest, there was another farewell for us this week. As our time in New Zealand comes to an end, we also need to sell the van. Three weeks ago, we had a van viewing in Nelson and managed to agree on a sale with the interested party right away.

Thus, the first big task was at hand: washing the van at the car wash. We had visited this a few weeks earlier, so this time we were already experienced in the process.

This was a good thing, as Franzi needed to be ready by 10 am for her job interview. Quite spontaneously, she had been invited to an interview with a van rental company.

After our van sparkled from the outside, we also had to clean the interior and pack our things. Luckily, we could drop them off directly at our woofing place (details about the woofing will follow next week). We were warmly welcomed by the father of our hostess and her dog Emma.

We spent the weekend in an AirBnB in New Brighton, and we were relieved when we could finally check in in the afternoon.

On Saturday, it was time to say goodbye to the van. But before that, we had to prepare it finely, as the new owner wanted to pick it up at noon. Just as we were finishing everything, we received the news that her flight was canceled and she would only be able to come for pickup around 6 pm.

We used the free time for a walk along the beach of New Brighton.

Until the evening, a spontaneous opportunity arose for Julian to do a trial shift at a Vietnamese restaurant in the city center. This caused a bit of stress for us, as the pickup and the start of work clashed a bit.

Thus, Franzi took care of the handover alone, so Julian would have time to take the bus to his trial work.

Of course, saying goodbye to the van was hard for us. For the last 9 months, it has been our home and has reliably and safely taken us around New Zealand. Unfortunately, there were a few repairs, but overall we were super happy with our van. We traveled everywhere with it, over every gravel road, up every mountain, and even through small streams. We will always remember the beautiful camping spots with our van.

Today, we took the bus to the woofing place, where we will need to settle in now. In the coming days, we will get to know our hostess and find out what tasks await us.

We look forward to our next (and last) chapter here in New Zealand and will report back next week on how exactly the woofing works and also whether it worked out for us to get an additional job.